Valentine Chair Backer

I discovered a tutorial for these valentine chair backers from No Fuss Fabulous and had to make one, or three. There's no sewing involved so that made this project a plus for me. I found that it only took 1 1/2 sheets of red felt for the envelope and then whatever else you want for the embeleshments. I may have to make some for my son's preschool class. There are only 5 kids in his class and I finished three in about an hour (I had 3 little interuptions :)  I'm so excited!  Now on Valentine's Day they can come down have their little treats and cards waiting inside their little envelopes.

Free Printable Valentines

Cupcake Valentines

Train Valentines

I thought I'd offer up some free printable valentines.  There's a set of train valentines and cupcake valentines.  The trains would be great paired with some train whistles from the dollar store or make some train candy using a train mold and candy melts.  Or these adorable train cupcakes or a candy train.

                                                     

For the cupcake valentines you can pair those with some tasty cupcake bites, like these from Bakerella.

Giveaway Winner!

Random Integer Generator


Here are your random numbers:
14

Timestamp: 2010-02-05 21:40:16 UTC

Congratulations to comment number 14:
Erica Ares said...

Oh, she's just adorable! Thanks for the great giveaway! I hope I win!! :)

Erica, please contact so that I can get your address!  Thank you to everyone who commented.  I plan on doing another giveaway soon.  I've found another craft that is too cute, so I'm sure I'll some to share :)

Look what my hubby made!

So I'm in love with a new blog. Ana from Knock of Wood . She offers all kinds of plans for free that are knock-off of some of my favorite furniture. She creates plans based off of Pottery Barn, Land of Nod, etc. She's my hero :) So I showed my hubby and he went straight to work. He built the entryway coat rack and bench. I'm so proud and I love it. It was cheesy easy and he had it done lickety-split. Next he has to make the kiddies some nightstands and a new bed for us.

Giveaway!

I decided it was high time to do a giveaway on this blog. It's waaay overdue. Next month will be my two year blogiversary, so I need to come up with some fun giveaways. The winner of this giveaway will win a valentine clothespin doll. To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on this post. The winner will be selected Friday, February 5th at 2:00 pm mountain time.

Some FYI about the doll: She is approximately 5.25" tall. None of her items are removable. She is hand painted and varnished. And although this little lady would delight any child, she is not intended to be a toy. She prefers to be loved and adored from a safe place.

Wee Birthday Dolly

I added this wee dolly to the shoppe today. I think she is my favorite. Tomorrow I hope to post pictures of the playhouse/fort that I made for my boys. Let's just say that I will NEVER revisit that project again. More tomorrow.

A New Shoppe!

Eeek, I must have lost my mind. I opened another shoppe on etsy. I wanted a place to sell all my other little bits and pieces that I love making. So please, check out my new shoppe: The Sonshine Shoppe where these wee ones are currently for sale.

Crayon Wreath

I decided to whip up a crayon wreath for my son's preschool teacher. I had a student give me one back when I was teaching and I still have it. It was one of the cutest things I ever got. I cranked this baby out in about 30 minutes. I painted my hoops white and then hot glued my crayons on. I did the apple and bus with my cricut. I really wish I could have had some red ribbon but yellow was the largest ribbon that I had, so yellow it was.

Clothespin Doll

I made this itty bitty for a lady that won a giveaway on my other blog. I tried to make it resemble her daughter as best as I could. Her daughter's favorite color is purple, so this little lady is head to toe in purple.

Photo Christmas Card

I had to make this year's card short and sweet. I really wish I had time to stamp my cards this year, but I just don't have time. I'm just thankful that these will get out before Christmas :)

Awesome swap!

I got my swap partners package today! It was like Christmas. I almost fainted from all the cuteness. My partner Beth made me the nicest apron and matching oven mitt. I love the colors and patterns. She also made me a little bag/pin cushion that goes in my craft room. The flower part is the pin cushion with the rubber skid stuff under it so it can sit on the edge of my table and the bag can hang over the side. I love it! I also got a handmade card, some bath and body lotion and spray and some little treats. This was by far the best swap I have ever participated in!

Tip Junkie's Trade Secrets Swap

I participated in Tip Junkie's Trade Secrets Swap. You were supposed to make 3 things that are your 'trade secrets'. I don't think I really have anything that is a trade secret. But I have things that I love to make so I went with that. My swap partner lives in the next city so that was great as it saved me shipping costs :) I loved doing this swap. I love making things for others and it helped that I had a deadline. Your swap items were supposed to be $25 excluding shipping. I only had to buy 3 things which is amazing for me. Almost everything was made from items that I had in my stash. That was really nice. First up, I made her a clothespin doll. I am in love with these things and I need to make a hundred more. So my swap partner's favorite color is blue and she loves to quilt. So I took those and Incorporated them with the doll. Next, I made her a wreath. My friend Bente made one for our family and I love it. It's my favorite Christmas decoration. I really enjoyed making this wreath. It combines two of my favorite things; stamping and paper crafting. And finally, I bought my partner my favorite cookie decorating book and I made her some cookies.

Fun Fall Treats

I love to make cute stuff. So it should come as no shock that food is no exception. We recently had our first cooking club meeting since the summer break. I loved making these cupcakes. They were super easy and so cute. You can find the directions here. She also has some directions for apple cupcakes, turkey cupcakes and Indian corn cupcakes. So cute! The pumpkins were also cheesy easy. It was my first time making rice krispie treats in the microwave. The green stem and vines are fruit roll-up. You can find the directions here.

My favorite thing!

I'm in love! I recently discovered this tutorial for clothespin dolls and I can't stop making them (thanks Going Sew Crazy, and I mean that in a good way :) . I must perfect them and I won't stop until I do. I've made a few so far. My first was just hideous. I can't even show you, she's that bad, I'm so embarrassed. My next one was better, my third a little better. I had to order some flesh colored pipe cleaner since I searched high and low and couldn't find any. So my second has lollipop stick arms and my third has dark beige-ish pipe cleaner arms. Her skin tone is not quite what I was looking for. But I'm hoping that one woman's trash is another woman's treasure (not that I would ever throw her away). I plan on using the pink doll as my next giveaway on my party blog: http://www.partiesbyhardie/. I usually do a giveaway around the first of each month and since she's meant to be a birthday doll, I figured she would work. I'll have more to share as soon as my pipe cleaners come : ) There will be more, many many more.

A question for my readers

I am trying to start a craft club with my spouses' group. I have been searching online for ideas but I'm not finding much. So I thought I would ask you! My plan is to have it once a month in the evening when the hubby's can watch the kiddies. There would be a hostess who would hopefully provide some snacks and drinks and of course, their home. Now, here's where things get tricky. I read one idea about everyone paying the hostess and the hostess gathering all the necessary materials. My other idea was that you send out the materials list ahead of time and everyone gets their own stuff and then you pool the big resources, like sewing machines or scissors. Which do you think would work out better? If anyone has any ideas to share I would love to hear them!

Cupcake burgers and cookie fries, oh my!

Does it really get any tastier than cupcake burgers and cookie fries? If you haven't been to Bakerella's blog before you need to go. Run, don't walk and check out her post on these adorable treats. Her photography is amazing and her baking skills are outta this world. And she offers a download to make the little trays, fry wrappers and the tissue paper. That's right baby, I made the entire ensemble that you see thanks to Bakerella!

Hidy-ho neighbor!

I needed to make a card for our neighbors to thank them for watching over our house while we were on vacation. They even turned on our sprinklers since our yard was drying up and dying. Ya gotta love neighbors like that. So we got them a gift card and I whipped up a little card (fits in an A2 envelope). I thought I would share it with anyone else who might want a quick and simple card. Give it to your neighbor who just moved in or just for the heck of it :o)

Click on the house to download!

Party Giveaway!

I'm doing a giveaway! Check out Design Dazzle and leave a comment on her blog about the partyware you would like to win. You can win a $25 gift certificate and free shipping for anything in my shop! The gift certificate is good for 1 year. The contest closes May 28th at midnight (PST). Design Dazzle has some wonderful ideas for kids rooms, parties, decorating, etc. It's definitely one of my favorites for future party inspirtation!

Jackson-1 month

I just wanted to quickly share a photo of my little guy in his one month onesie.

There's a party goin on round here...

I've been MIA for quite a while, but for good reason. I am starting a little business venture. I have been working for the last couple of weeks on party ware. I have been creating some themes for kids parties and baby showers that I plan to sell on etsy. I'm really excited about this project. It's pretty much all I think about now. I have a million ideas but for now I'm working on my first four themes and when those are complete, then I will open my etsy shop and see how it goes. If noone is interested, at least I enjoyed making the stuff. For now, I will leave you with a little sneak peak, see if you can figure out what two of the the themes might be!